Habitats

Part four motorways as havens for wildlife.

The amount of grassland and scrub along the broad verges of Britain's major roads exceeds the total area of all the country`s nature reserves put together. People rarely walk on roadside verges because its unsafe and its forbidden to do along motorways. Because of this they offer a comparatively safe home for all kinds of animals that can tolerate traffic noise. Moles, particularly, benefit because no one needs to plough up their burrows, and because traffic vibration brings worms, their major food, to the surface. Small mammals such as bank voles and shrews abound, and foxes and rabbits are quite common as well. The varied plant life offers food as well as cover to some of the small mammals, but it is often contaminated with salt and oil from the road surface and with lead from the exhausts of cars. Road verges serve as corridors along which animals can spread into our cities and also across wide areas of our country. The actual crossing of roads is a problem , however. Many animals do manage it-even slow- moving moles- but rabbits, hedgehogs, deer and other animals active at night are often dazzled by vehicle headlights and ran over. Many thousands are killed on our roads every year. But their corpses serve as a food supply for scavengers such as foxes, crows, magpies and even buzzards. Rabbits dig their warrens in well drained, undisturbed embankments, but will normally feed in near by fields and not by the road side. Hovering kestrels will be looking for voles, mice and beetles for them to eat.  A newly built road may cut across an established badger trail, and badgers using it may get run over because of this. Early in the morning crows may be seen feeding on the casualties from the night before, such as hares, rabbits and even hedgehogs. Next time you are driving along some of our busy roads have a lookout for some of this wildlife.